


The Boy From Poland

by UnspokenStar



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik Has Feelings, Erik is a Sweetheart, Friendship/Love, M/M, World War 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 03:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21403525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnspokenStar/pseuds/UnspokenStar
Summary: Canon! AU.Any mistakes are my own. This is my first ever ficlet to be posted. Hope you enjoy the story!
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Secret Mutant Madness 2019





	The Boy From Poland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [g33kyclassic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/g33kyclassic/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [g33kyclassic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/g33kyclassic/pseuds/g33kyclassic) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2019) collection. 

> **Prompt:**  
What if instead of finding Raven in the kitchen as a child, Charles had found Erik instead?

Poland, 1943

The marching was like a beating drum, it had been going on for years, the gunshots constantly echoing day and night. Everyone knew that Germany wanted revenge after the Great War, for the injustices of the Treaty of Versailles, but the uprising that occurred was much different than what the majority of the German citizens expected, with the ideology of Hitler. Anyone considered part of the lesser race was immediately put into categories; homosexuals, Jews, politicians, criminals, spies, even the mentally disabled. 

That is why when the moment came, when everything was momentarily at peace, Edie knew she had to take her son to safety. To get out of Europe. They escaped the little train car and they both ran, they kept running till they met the sea. An American who was war tired and home-sick took pity on them and smuggled them onto a commercial ship, and they both set forth to the land of the free: America.

It was nearly a dream for Edie; they had a way of transport to America; they had gotten out of Germany`s clutches; they were away from the war. Of course, all things as good as they were must always have a price to pay. Her price to pay was losing her son. Neither of them knew, with the war immigration into the U.S. was hectic, everyone was everywhere and next thing she knew; Erik was gone.

***

Erik was panicking, he lost his mama. He didn`t know why they went to America, why wasn`t home good enough to stay, he knew the echoing bangs and the drums scared her, but she assured him they`d be gone soon. Erik wondered around the dock area looking for his mother, everyone overlooking him, Erik kept getting pushed with the crowd. Finally, when night fell, and all the people had finally cleared there was no sign of his mother in the boarding area. Looking around at those who remained at the dock to ask for help, he saw a well-dressed man yelling into his phone, “Westchester! Brian left his son the fortune and the house to the drunk! Can you believe it! Sharon…” and that was all he heard before the man walked away.

Nothing but names could be understood from the sentence, coming to America with no knowledge about the language was a mistake. Erik knew at that point; it was just him versus the world right now. He first needed to find somewhere to get shelter from the night and find his mother.

***

Sharon was disassociating, the funeral felt like a cliché with the gloomy sky and weepy friends and family around. She honestly wanted for this to end quickly; she had few sorrows about Brian`s death. The man had stopped showering and proclaiming his affections and love for her for nearly eleven years now. 

After the birth of Charles and his telepathic powers beginning to show, Brian became curious, too curious. Charles adored his father`s attention, he relished in it. Sharon knew what Brian was doing was abusive and torturous to their son, but after one argument and threat for divorce Sharon knew to keep her mouth closed and eyes open.

Brian died eventually, due to an underlying heart condition. At least, that`s what she`s been telling the poor mourners at the funeral. Her eyes slid toward her son, the only Xavier heir, who was silently crying; for all the Brian had done to Charles he was still his father. Sharon felt a swell of pity and need to comfort her son, with what few maternal feelings she harbored, but instead turns away toward the mansion. Brian had those same sad eyes.

***  
New York, 1944

Erik had survived and lived frugally. He gained out of desperation and panic an ability to steal coins out of people`s pockets, maybe entire wallets filled with change if he was lucky. He knows only a few things for sure in the unstable situation he`s in that it`s winter now, no sign of his mother in the city, and English is a disgusting language to learn. 

With what little Erik has acquired, he`s going to continue further somewhere to try and find his mother. He thought back to the man at the boarding dock, and the place called Westerchest; that was the name wasn`t it? West…. Westhester? Erik was getting a headache thinking about it, but he needed to find somewhere his mama would go. 

With a renewed strength and a few pieces of food, Erik headed out of the busy city called New York.

***  
Westchester, 1944

Charles hated the mansion; it was filled with empty eyes and nearly empty minds. With nearly everything anyone could wish for residing inside the house: an endless amount of money, servants who obey your whims, tutors who can teach just about anything. Charles felt guilty hating his privileges because of those who are being sacrificed in the war, but all Charles really wanted was someone besides the voices in his head and the voices of others in his head. Sharon had isolated herself to one side of the mansion, the East Wing, or rather the side with the most alcohol storage.

He went to bed with the same resignation he did every night, hoping and knowing there was no way to gain a happier ending with his life. Sometimes he dreamt of people so familiar yet never seen, people like him! Not telepathic but special and so absolutely wonderful.

A girl who was a beautiful blue, a boy with glasses and a love for science, a young man with a fiery red temper, a young man who`s skin colour did not define his adaptability, a magnificent girl with dragonfly wings, and a boy with red hair and loud screeches; but of course, it was only a dream. They are only ever dreams and it seems that is all they would ever be.

***  
An unfamiliar mind woke up Charles, it could have been Sharon`s if it weren`t for the fact her drunk mind slides down his telepathy the wrong way. No, this mind was tired and weary, knowing the servants are well asleep their quarters which off the mansion’s premise, Charles grabbed the baseball bat leaning against the side of his doorway.

Attempting to make his steps quiet Charles walked slowly, he heard the voice mumbling about food and how the mansion looked abandoned but doesn`t want to risk anything. Charles walks into the kitchen, readily swinging the bat—until he sees that it’s a boy just like him maybe just a tad bit taller.

“Who are you?”  
***  
Both boys stare at each other, one holding a baseball bat ready to swing at any moment and one holding a loaf and some cheese. Erik is debating whether to cry, run, or beg; but the boy in the striped pajamas spoke first.

“Who are you?”

“I—uh.. just.. sorry…” Erik was panicking so much he couldn`t even from a coherent sentence to defend himself. ‘I`m sorry I broke into your house? But I haven`t eaten in a few days, who apologizes like that. Just run while you can Erik, move the metal in the chair, do it!’

“You can move metal?” The boy drops the bat so suddenly, that Erik panics and throws his hand out to move one the metal chairs and throw it at him. Luckily the boy avoids it and moves to grasp Erik`s arm more eagerly than one should, considering Erik`s burglar status at the present moment. “You`re just like me! Well, not quite but we`re both gifted, we`re both special.”

Erik is so stunned at the boy`s sudden excitement and acceptance, compiled with the ever-growing panic of being an immigrant burglar; he logically does the only thing any twelve-year old boy would do in these circumstances and starts crying.

***

After Charles has calmed Erik down and reassured him that he wouldn`t call the police, they both sat down and drank some hot chocolate. Charles, who was trying his best to not listen in on Erik`s thoughts, was going over the several phrases to try and restart the disaster of how they met. 

“So- “, They both start, but Erik gestures for Charles to continue.

“My name is Charles,” Charles begins, “Charles Xavier. I understand you`re in a peculiar situation?”

“Um… Erik Lehnsherr, my name, I from Poland looking for my Mutter.” Erik shuffled his hands in embarrassment about his broken English and strong accent, “We were leave Poland, mutter did not say why.”

“I think we could help you out, well… ‘we’ being myself and the servants. You could stay here at mansion and we can both look for your mother!”

“Really?”

Charles eagerly nodded his head and reached over to grab Erik`s hand, “We can work together! Looking for her, learning English and… if you want, to hone our powers.”

Erik nodded his head and looked at Charles once more with a happy smile, Charles eagerly threw himself at his new friend in a hug. They both hid each other in the hug, keeping each other safe from the travesties of the world and it`s war.

***  
Sharon could care less about the addition of a new person in the house, with her thought process saying that at least Charles will stop bothering her. She only wished to see the bottom of the bottle and the last grasps of what she had dreamed of when she married Brian.

Charles enthusiastically took up the lessons of teaching Erik English, though Erik simply thought it easier for Charles to read his thoughts. As much as Charles enjoyed finally being accepted totally and completely, he had to persuade Erik the importance of knowing English. Not wanting to be the only one being taught something they mutually traded knowledge on the English and German language. Erik however often boasted to Charles that when he learns English, he will have known four languages: German, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English. Charles baited that challenge took it upon himself to learn French and, although extremely short-lived, Spanish. 

Their powers were often used exclusively around one another, Erik learning more and more the extent of his power; Charles learning how far his range can go and how much he could influence the thoughts of other around him. They thrived and fed off the attention and admiration they threw at one another, they slept in the same room and hardly ever left each other’s side. The change in their relationship could have only been inevitable with their total devotion for one another.

***

Both of the young men, now nearly 16 laid side-by-side to each other on the ungodly sized bed. Charles was perfectly laid to fit on top of Erik arm, he leaned on his shoulder while they both read ‘Once and Future King’ with Charles narrating it between both their minds. At the end of the fourteenth chapter in book three, they set down the book and looked at each other.

The five years between them had been all too kind to them both. Charles hadn`t gained much height, he gained the soft masculinity that suited his stature and his forgiving personality. His face didn`t change much but still changed enough that his eyes similar to the depths of the sea entrapped you, and his lips became a tantalizing red. Erik had experienced more change than Charles, spurted up from being a measly few inches taller than Charles to being five inches taller. With his growth in height his face become more angular, his eyes changing from steel greys to deep greens. Overall both boys became handsome young men with the libido of rabbits.

Charles couldn`t help but admire the height difference that he and Erik have, there was just something about being able to look up and lean on Erik so closely if he were to tiptoe, they would—

Erik admired Charles passion for their mutations, he also very much enjoyed gazing into Charles` eyes which would, of course, then slide down into staring at his lips. The way Charles nibbles on his lip when he`s thinking, how he would look up at Erik with total openheartedness, Erik just wanted to take Charles` face into his hands and—

Both young men for what had seemed like ages continue to stare one another down, both unknowingly think very similar thoughts, before Charles begins to twist in Erik`s arms until he has lain himself a top of the metal telekinetic. Charles gently grabs his face and they continue to gaze at one another, until Erik rolls so that the telepath lays under Erik. Hands beside Charles head with his knees parallel to Charles`, Erik breathes out and asks Charles, 

“May I kiss you?” 

Charles with filled with such fervor and tenderness for Erik`s consideration, nods in confirmation and brings the lovely metal kinetic down to him so they could share a soft kiss. The intimacy and mutual love they radiate lead to them continuously share soft and tender kisses, Charles pulls back and gently pods at Erik`s mind for permission. Erik opens his mind totally and freely with no restraint and projects his, in what could be described as one and infinite thing, love for Charles. With the looping feeling of one another`s love for each other, their innocent kisses changed to kisses of vehemence.

“Erik, I love you”, Charles says with a breathy gasp.

“I love you too, Charles, I love you so very much.” Erik proclaims, muffling himself as he kisses around Charles face and down his neck. 

They only get closer and closer, with the humidity of the room increasing as time continued to pass. Time seemed to have passed so quickly, time appeared to have had slown down, time has stopped for the two who know only each other in that moment. The world has halted in its tracks to witness the pure and unaltered love of the boys, to relish in the absolute and total connection that they maintain. Within the secounds, minutes, hours, it is only Erik and it is only Charles. Only each other, forever.

***

Their relationship, although shifted into being one of love and romantic intimacy, nothing had really changed. They were still best friends, still boys looking for companionship, still the boys who met in the kitchen during the war. They continued their studies, with Charles being exceptional in the sciences and Erik being remarkable in history, alongside their persistence in looking for Erik`s mother. Charles kept expanding and expanding the range of his telepathy just so he might be able to reach and contact Edie through his telepathy.  
Nearing the end of what would have been high school were it not for the abundance of money in the Xavier household and never-ending supply of tutors, they pursued the idea of college. Erik, although excited to attend college, wanted to find his mother before starting university; he wanted his mother to see what she accomplished by bringing him to America. Charles, who only wanted to make Erik happy, agreed to postpone college till the found Edie.

Luckily for them they would have been ahead in college anyways, ‘graduating’ high school at the ages 15 and 16. So they packed up from the Westchester mansion, and went in search for the mother of the Lehnsherr boy. 

***

Leaving a house of sheltered ideas and total isolation, without any knowledge nor preparation of where to begin, was in fact a mistake. They headed out to New York, the last place Erik survived before arriving at the mansion, and Charles’ telepathy was completely overwhelmed by the mass population of New York. They both made the decision to reside in the outskirts of the city to try and let Charles adjust to the population flux from the countryside to the city.

After the accommodations had aided in allowing Charles to adjust to the voices, he sheltered against heavy barrage of thoughts by using Erik`s mind as a grounding point for his mind. They traveled and traveled for months the entirety of New York State, with no indication that Edie was anywhere nearby. Erik’s demeanor during their search changed from one of hope to one of resignation, ‘Maybe mama didn`t stay’.

“She did!” Charles exclaimed, “I just know it Erik, I may have not had a wonderful mother, but I know your mother would have stayed and searched for you!” 

Erik looked at Charles with complete and total love and took his hand into his. “Should we start from where mama and I came then?” 

Charles nodded, and they walked side by side back to the docking area that Erik and Edie had first got separated in. They looked around for Edie before sitting down on a bench and allowing Charles to search the area for any mental clues of Edie nearby. 

‘Look darling a butterfly!’— 'Why did I choose today to quit smoking’— ‘Erik, my poor dear- ‘–- ‘Stupid bitch’— ‘Disgusting fags’ --- ‘Charles, are you alright?’

“Erik! I found her she`s nearby, she’s waiting. She waited for you!” 

Charles got up so abruptly that it startled Erik, and the telepath reached for Erik`s hand pulling him along trying to keep track Edie`s mind. Charles sharply turned around a corner and ran into an elderly lady, creating a sandwich of people crashing into each other. Erik was about to apologize on their behalf before he looked up and saw who could have only been—

“Erik! This is Edie! This is your mom!” Charles exclaimed cutting off Erik’s train of thought.

***

Edie filled with such surprise at being run into, that Charles’ words hardly registered in her mind. She jumps in surprise as the six-foot man throws himself in her arms, and he looks up at her and she sees the same smoky-green eyes that she stared at every time she looked into the picture of her only son, the boy who she raised, cared for, and loved.

“Mama?”

“Oh, schatz. Where have you been? I`ve been looking everywhere for you, it’s been so long.” She slowly held his face in her hands, he grew up so much like his father. He leaned into her hands with an unspoken need to be held by his mother just like he did when he was small. She brought him into her arms, and he gripped the back of her shirt. In the arms of his mother he was no longer the sixteen-year old who fled from the war, he was the son of Edie who sang him prayers and let him light the menorah; he was his mother’s son who would cry in her arms at the slightest hazard. 

The city of New York could care less about the heartwarming scene except the it was a nuisance to pedestrians walking alongside the street. Charles not wanting to interrupt the reunion of the mother and son, laid his hand on Edie’s shoulder and told her that they should sit somewhere in a less crowded area. She smiled kindly at the boy who accompanied her son and gestured for Erik to help her stand up. All three headed toward Edie’s apartment and talked on the sofa about what had happened in the years passed. Edie sat across from the two boys, as they sat closer than what would be considered sociably acceptable for two ‘friends`.

“Mama, this is Charles.” Erik gripped Charles’ hand nervously, “He helped me after we got separated. We love each other, mama”

Edie looked in surprise at her son and his significant other, “This is the young man who has been caring for you? Kept you safe from all those who would wish to harm you?” Edie thought back to the horrible prejudices and treatment of those who did not fit the master race. The Nazis did not care for someone Jewish nor someone homosexual, someone like her son who was both homosexual and Jewish would have been killed on spot during the war; looking at her son once more whose eyes shone with worry, and whose hand gripped Charles with love. Edie knew, even though she did not agree with it, it made her son happy which is all she ever wanted for him. “Schatz, if Charles makes you happy then be happy with him. I brought you here for opportunity and happiness, and you found it.”

***

Erik and Charles shared a look that encompassed everything their relationship was, they both nodded and smiled greatly at Edie for her approval. They began to reminisce and recount about the time that had passed between them, with the bonds between all three growing stronger. Erik nodded to Charles mental question for permission to tell Edie about their mutations, and their path to go to college. 

After a long hour of explanation and convincing that, ‘no, we’re not crazy’ and ‘yes, we’re sure that they`re mutations and not witchcraft’, Edie finally understood that they have gifts called mutations. She didn`t quite get it, especially the complicated genetic talk that Charles spoke about, but she knew that the boys weren`t lying about their gifts and powers.

Erik excitedly told his mother about their plans to attend college and that he wanted her to see him graduate. Edie beamed and gather both of the boys in her arms and wished them luck for their studies and their success. Charles and Erik left her home knowing there was one more person beside themselves who accepted each other for the differences and uniqueness. Both held hands down the street, looking forward toward the sky in hope for the future that beheld them.

***  
“This is what life looks like, people who love each other.”

**Author's Note:**

> So Erik is a bit different than what he would have been like in First Class because he simply lost his mother rather than seeing her die. Shaw also wasn`t a bastard, in fact he doesn`t even exist in the fic, and also that is one of my favorite quotes from Patrick Stewart. Thank you for reading!


End file.
